Electrical receptacle.



N0- 746.483. PATENTED DEC. 8, 1903. P. H. FIELDING.

ELECTRICAL REGEPTACLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.17, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

lmihuzaoe a I Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP H. FIELDING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRICAL RECEPTACLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,483, dated December 8, 1903.

Application filed November 17,1902. Serial No. 131.620. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP H. FIELDING, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Receptacles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

- This invention relates to electrical receptacles and similar appliances, the object being to provide a simple device of this character consisting of a base and a cover or shield provided with means for readily and securely fastening the base to its support and quickly attaching and detaching the cover or shield to and from the base.

The invention consists of the construction hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the receptacle, showing one form ofa support in section. Fig. 2 is a section on line was of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view of the bottom of the cover. Fig. 4: is a plan of the base with the electrical conductors in place. Fig. 5 is a section on line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 shows a' slight modifi cation. Fig. 7 shows a modified form of base to which the receptacle is adapted to be attached, and Fig. 8 is a plan of a supportin surface carrying a number of the receptacles.

The receptacle consists of the base A and the cover or shield B. The base is an elongated body having concentric curved ends and provided with a raised central portion a, flanked on each side by a groove or shelf a, extending entirely across the base and along which the electrical conductors pass. Attached to the center of the base are the usual metallic parts of a lamp-socket consisting of the threaded shell 0, from which a metal clip 0 leads laterally and downwardly into one of the grooves a, and a center contact 0 extending laterally in the opposite direction into the other groove. Each metallic part in the groove is provided with a binding-screwc for the respective conductors d and d, the insulation being removed from a short length of the conductors to enable the screws to clamp the wire without severing it. The shell 0 is secured by means of two screws 0, extending upward through the bottom of the base, and between the shell and the face of the base are inserted two spring-tongues e and e, which are also held by the same screws and extend outward slightly beyond the shell and thence lead upward substantially parallel to upper edge in offsets 6 forming springlatches. The center of the base is pierced to receive a fastening. device, which, as shown in Fig. 2, is a screw 5 and in Fig. 7 as a short bolt 8, similar to a stove-bolt. The perforation in the base extends through the center contact of the lamp-socket, so that a screwdriver can be used to set it in place. The head of the screw is also deeply countersunk in the porcelain or other isulating material of which the receptacle is made. The screw 3 (shown in Fig. 2) is used when the receptacle is fixed to a wooden or other substantial support, and the bolt 8 (shown in Fig.7) when the receptacle is secured to sheet-metal or other thin support, such asis commonly used in electric signs.

One of the features of my invention is the means for holding the base firmly to its support with a single central screw or bolt to prevent its turning when a twisting force is applied, as happens when the lamp is screwed into the socket. This consists in forming a longitudinal groove a in the bottom of the base and providing the support with a ridge f, which passes into this groove. This ridge can be easily formed in either a wooden or a sheet-metal support, and in signs, where a sheet-metal surface is commonly used, the ridge can be given the form of the characters or letters of the sign and the receptacles quickly located by placing them along the ridge. This method of mounting the receptacles is very convenient, because when the base is properly placed over the ridge f its grooves 0/ a are at the same time brought into alinement with the conductors which ex tend from one receptacle to the other, and no special care need be taken to line up the receptacles. This is seen in Fig. 8. Obviously the groove may be either in the base of the receptacle or the supporting-surface, the complementary part of the interlocking connection being in the opposite member. When the stove-bolt is used, as in Fig. 7. the nut fits into the depression in the back of the support.

a the sides of the shell and terminate near its Referring now to the cover or shield B, the same consists in general of a cylindrical body having a large axial opening adapted to surround and protect the shell of the socket. Its internal surface is provided at opposite points with two notches g g, adapted to receive the offset ends of the spring tongues or latches e and 6 when the cover has been placed over the base and adjusted to its proper position thereon. The lower flange of the cover is provided with two oppositely disposed downward extensions g g, which on the outside are curved concentrically and with the same radius as the curved ends of the base, while internally said projections have straight walls g which form the outer sides or walls of the grooves a a in the base, and thus completely close in the two conductors. At the point 1' 1' the cover is cut away to form inclined guides, which direct the spring-tongues e e through the cover when the latter is applied to the base. The base part having been secured, the cover is applied by simply forcing it over the shell until the latches fall into the notches g. It is then held only by the frictional engagement of the latches, which, however, is quite sufficient for the purpose and avoids fastening-screws and the time required to set them in place. The shape of the cover, forming, as it does, a part of the groove inclosing the conductor and at the same time permitting the conductor to pass straight out through the ends of the base, is a feature of my invention.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. An electric receptacle having a screwthreaded socket, and a single screw holding the receptacle to its support, in combination with a support into which said screw enters and cooperative means between the receptacle and support preventing the receptacle from twisting.

2. The combination with an electrical device, of a support therefor consisting of a surface having an integral formation adapted to engage with a corresponding integral formation on the device, the said surface formation being extended and adapted to engage at any point with such devices, substantially as described.

3. An electrical receptacle consisting of a base carrying a cylindrical shell adapted to receive the neck of a lamp, a pair of springlatches arranged outside of the shell and extending parallel thereto and a cover adapted to surround the shell and provided with notches to receive said latches for holding the cover in place.

4'. In an electrical receptacle, the combination of a base part having two parallel shelves extending from end to end, one being on each side, contacts and binding devices attached to the base, and a cover adapted to rest upon the upper surface of the base and having extending portions opposite each of said shelves, closing the latter in to form grooves In witness whereof I subscribe my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PHILIP H. FIELDING.

Witnesses:

FRANK S. OBER, -WALDO M; CHAPIN. 

